The invention relates, in general, to golfing aids, and, in particular, to devices for identifying and indicating where a golf ball is struck on a club face and the swing path of the golf club.
Prior to 1899, when the golf tee was invented, golf balls were teed up on mounds of dirt or grass. Since 1899, there have been numerous inventions in order to tee a golf ball in a reproducible manner. There are also numerous aids that are available to assist the golfer in improving his or her golf stroke. For example, it is useful for the golfer to be able to identify the location on the club face struck by the ball so that the golfer can modify his or her stance, grip or swing to improve the impact location to result in greater distance or avoid hooking or slicing the ball. As with tennis racquets, golf club heads have a xe2x80x9csweet spot,xe2x80x9d which is the optimum location for striking the ball to provide maximum distance and accuracy. Many golf pros use existing teaching tools such as impact golf tape that is placed on the club face to provide feedback on where the ball was struck. This practice tool is effective, but is banned during a round by USGA rules (rule 4-3). What is needed is a way to achieve these benefits and also conform to USGA rules. Below are patents that help improve the golfer awareness of where on the club face the golf ball was struck and tees that are designed to be height adjustable.
One golfing aid that assists in determining the location of impact of the golf ball on the club head in a golfer""s stroke is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,077. It provides an impact detector that is mounted on the club head of a golf club. The impact detector provides an instantaneous visual or audible indicator of the club head face striking the ball.
Another prior device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,851. This device is a method and apparatus for registering a point of a ball against a surface of a hitting implement. A multi-layered impact indicator is releasably affixed to the striking surface of the implement. The top and bottom layers of the indicator cooperate in a carbonless fashion such that when the ball impacts on the top layer, the impact is communicated to and registered on at least the second layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,146 is a golf tee that has successive concentric contrasting color stripes around most of the length of a tee. This helps determine at a glance how many of the stripes are exposed above the ground thereby determining the height of a golf ball prior to striking the ball. These stripes are arranged in repeated sequences of two or more different colors in each sequence.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,909 is a golf tee for improved straighter golf ball flight when hit therefrom including an adhesive means applied to all or a portion of the socket portion of the head for adherence to the golf ball placed thereon. Golf ball adhesion to the head of this golf tee provides the anti-spin characteristics necessary to reduce ball xe2x80x9chookxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cslice.xe2x80x9d
U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,551 is a golf alignment marker system which is disclosed wherein a calibrated grid is provided on a strip of paper which provides a mark on impact, and the paper is mounted adjacent the golf ball. A golf club strikes the paper and the ball, and a mark is imparted to the paper surface adjacent the grid.
U.S. Pat. No. 38,006,132 is a golf practice aid embodying a member having adhesive of different tackiness on opposite sides thereof, whereby the member may be secured to a golf ball by the less sticky adhesive in position where the face of the golf club head will strike the stickier adhesive during the golf swing of the club, thereby causing the member to be removed from the ball and transferred to the face of the club to mark the portion thereof which struck the ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,361 is a golf club strike indicator that uses a self-adhesive indicator, which adheres to a golf club face to provide an indication of the point of impact of the golf ball on the club face is provided. It consists of a sandwich of various layersxe2x80x94a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive on the bottom, followed by a layer of energy-absorbing elastometric material on which is provided a film of a thermochromic material such as a temperature sensitive liquid crystal. This product is sold as the product Accu-Master, the golf targeting system, which is endorsed by Butch Harmon.
The Physics of Golf written by Theodore P. Jorgensen discloses a method for identifying the impact spot by applying a small dab of watercolor paint to the ball and observing the paint on the club head after a swing.
The present invention involves a golf tee that is coated with colored special coatings that when struck with a golf club leaves a marking that easily identifies where the ball was struck on the club face and the path of the swing, but does not come off the tee in normal handling. The tee leaves a multi-colored marking on the club face that is used to show the swing path of a golfer""s swing and the point of impact of the tee on the face of the golf club. The tee has a line or marking that represents the middle, which establishes the optimum hitting area. This line or marking is also an indicator for the golfer to line up in the direction they are trying to hit the ball. On either side of this line or marking is a different color that indicates the swing path when shown on the club face.
The tee may be one of many tees having a different colored mark scheme, each for a different shot, that are included with a scoring card as part of a tee marking kit. The kit may be used for recording the impact and swing path for tee shots during golf or practice shots.
Along with the tee, a marking indicator may be placed on the club face of a golf club to indicate where the tee should leave a mark for an optimal hit. For example, the mark on the club head will be generally below the initial xe2x80x9csweet spotxe2x80x9d indicator that is popular with many of today""s clubs. When a perfect shot is made, a marking from the tee is visible within the marking indicator. Because the tee of the present invention does not require a foreign material between the ball and the club face, the tee can be used during a round, without violating USGA rules, as well as on the practice tee.